And a streak is......

Chuck E Cheese

Working hard on his toy

For those of you who believed in a changed Ethan Robert... A child, who previously was unable to go a day without a timeout, but had now found the light.... I have to say thank you for the faith. And, now I also must inform you the faith was sadly, misplaced. It took Ethan less than 24 hours after he secured he reward to fall back off the wagon. Two timeouts came on Wednesday... BUT, Thursday he was again timeout free. Friday, not so much. So, at this point the jury is out on how 'effective' my reward system was/is. We will see how he does this week. This time, when Ethan asked, I told him he had to go 6 days with no timeouts. Even he didn't believe he could do that...

BUT, we did have a blast at Chuck E Cheese. Hadn't been there in a while so it was a lot of fun. And, since we got there relatively early, we beat the rush. We arrived at 10:30 am and the guy working the door informed me if we wanted to eat there might be a table way in the back next to the toddler area... otherwise everything was reserved the rest of the day. Thankfully, we had no intention of eating. Ethan jumped right back into the games. And, I must say he continues to get better. Now, when I offer him tips in the racing games he actually kind of listens. And, really, the only tip I give him is 'try driving in a straight line... it's faster.' Ethan likes to crank the wheel back and forth and then wonders why he never catches anyone ahead of him. But, he won lots of tickets, and I set the high score AND the fastest pitch on the baseball game. Take that 4 through 12 year olds... So, overall it was a successful day.

This morning I woke up to Ethan asking if we could build one of the metal tractors Grandma Brett got him for Christmas. He informed me he picked out the one with just 96 pieces... the other one had over 100. So, after breakfast we headed up to his room to do just that. Now, take a look at the picture below. These are the directions I was dealing with. I put a tube of chapstcik next to it for size reference:

I needed a damn magnifying glass to even see everything. I should have known when the part list wasn't in alphabetical order we were going to have problems. But, I remained pretty patient for the most part and Ethan was a really good helper. He was really excited to finish and play. I was happy to be done and it was fun to watch him play with something we built... for a grand total of 4 minutes. 4. Total. It took 45 to build. That's a solid return on investment.

Later in the day we were running errands and in the Target parking lot Ethan moved in his seat and the seat made a farting noise. I started accusing him of farting and telling him he smells. After several references that I found funny and Ethan apparently did not he said, 'dad, I think that's enough talk about tooting.'

That was the first sign that my soon-to-be 5 year old is more mature than his father.

The second came just minutes later as we were walking in. I always make Ethan hold my hand in the parking lot to keep him safe and close... and, because it gives me ample opportunity to kick him in the behind as we walk. Again... I'm funny. After once again doing this several times and amusing only myself we got to the door and Ethan said 'dad... stop kicking me in the bottom. everyone knows it is not appropriate in a store.'

I know I lack maturity. I think it is one of my endearing qualities... After twice being scolded by a child not yet in school for my behavior, I'm beginning to think others don't find it so endearing.... :)

Last night at dinner asked me what I was drinking. I replied:

"Why don't you guess?"

Ethan: "Diet Dr. Pepper?"

Me: "Ding, ding, ding... good job, pal"

Ethan: "What does ding, ding, ding mean?"

Me: "It means you got the question right"

And now today whenever Ethan asked me a question, he wanted me to reply with 'ding, ding, ding' whenever he got it right. I think he asked several questions he already knew the answer to just to hear it. And, when I would ask him questions he would do the same for me. Nice little ego boost to hear dinging when you answer a question. Even if it is from a child.

Lastly, Ethan has developed a rather 'annoying' habit lately of asking me if he is better than me in every single thing we do that is even remotely competitive. I put annoying in quotes cause I feel guilty labeling something Ethan does annoying. And, when he first started it wasn't. But, now it's gotten to the point where it is every time and he's most of the time now he's just flat out telling me he's better. Which, I'm fine with... But, I don't know where to draw the line with letting him think he's the best at everything. I don't want him to be one of those kids who thinks he is god's gift to the world and deserves a medal for breathing. So, I'm torn between continuing to tell him he's better than me, and destroying him in something just a little reminder that you can't win everything. Sure, I could make it close and ease the pain... but, I want to make sure he gets the point and I think a severe beating in something would do the trick.

Like I said... I'm very mature...